Joshua 7:10

10 Then the Lord said to Joshua, Get up; what are you doing with your face to the earth?

Joshua 7:10 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 7:10

And the Lord said unto Joshua, get thee up
From the ground where he lay prostrate, with his face to it: this he said, not as refusing his supplication to him, but rather as encouraging and strengthening him; though chiefly he said this in order to instruct him, and that he might prepare for what he was to do:

wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face?
in this manner, so distressed and dejected; or for this thing, as the Targum, for this defeat of the army; something else is to be done besides prayer and supplication.

Joshua 7:10 In-Context

8 O Lord, what am I to say now that Israel have given way before their attackers?

9 For when the news comes to the Canaanites and all the people of the land, they will come up, shutting us in and cutting off our name from the earth: and what will you do for the honour of your great name?

10 Then the Lord said to Joshua, Get up; what are you doing with your face to the earth?

11 Israel has done wrong, sinning against the agreement which I made with them: they have even taken of the cursed thing; acting falsely like thieves they have put it among their goods.

12 For this reason the children of Israel have given way, turning their backs in flight before their attackers, because they are cursed: I will no longer be with you, if you do not put the cursed thing away from among you.